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Dean Foods Co. swung to a fourth quarter profit from a previous-year loss, the Dallas-based dairy giant said Tuesday. And it’s paying cheaper prices to farmers for raw milk so far this year.

But the gains of late did not come soon enough to keep Dean from posting a loss of $20 million, or 22 cents a share for 2014. That’s down from 2013 profit of $813 million, or $8.58 a share, when the company saw a boost from the spin off of its fast-growing WhiteWave division.

Not counting non-recurring events, the company lost $13 million, or 14 cents a share for the full year 2014, compared with profit in 2013 of $82 million, or 86 cents a share.

The 2014 win/loss columns were switched for the fourth quarter, which ended Dec. 31.

Adjusting for non-recurring events, fourth quarter profit was $7 million, or 8 cents a share. Analysts, who have been much more bullish on the company lately, were expecting 11 cents a share.

Dean had a number of hurdles to face during the year including shrinking demand for milk nationwide and higher costs. The company responded by cutting costs, including closing more processing plants.

“Fluid milk costs remained elevated during the quarter and continued to negatively impact the overall health of the category by causing volume declines beyond what we would consider a normal trajectory for the category,” Gregg Tanner, Dean’s chief executive, said in a statement.

He noted that the main category that establishes milk prices, called the Class I Mover, began falling in December and continued declining in early 2015.

That ultimately should mean lower prices for consumers. It also “should provide some support to our category and additional tailwinds to our business.”

Revenue for the quarter was $2.4 billion, up from $2.3 billion a year earlier.

A $360,000 jury verdict against the power transmission company Oncor for its role in a South Dallas dairy fire in 2008 has been overturned.

The Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals ruled Monday there was not sufficient evidence to prove Oncor was responsible for one of its transformers catching fire at the Schepps Dairy.

Dean Foods, the owner of Schepps, filed suit against Oncor claiming it was negligent in maintaining the electrical equipment. Oncor argued the fire was caused by Schepps failing to maintain insulation around its equipment.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Dallas-based Dean Foods is one of two companies federal authorities are seeking information from in connection with an insider-trading investigation of activist investor Carl Icahn, sports bettor William T. Walters, and golfer Phil Mickelson. The Journal attributed the information to “people familiar with the matter.”

The report said Dean in recent weeks received a subpoena from criminal authorities ordering the company to produce information.

Dean declined to comment but issued a brief statement: “We are reviewing this matter, and our practice is to offer our full support to any government investigation.”

The company would not confirm if it had received a subpoena.

The report also said Clorox Co. and Icahn received requests for information from the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2011 related to trading in the company’s shares, according to a person familiar with the matter.

In the case of Dean Foods, authorities are probing whether Walters provided stock tips to Mickelson, said people familiar with the matter. In the case of Clorox, investigators are looking into whether Icahn tipped Walters about his actions involving Clorox, the people said.

On four major financial measures, Dean Foods posted a first quarter decline, including a more than 100 percent drop in first quarter profit.

Dallas-based Dean Foods, among the largest dairy companies in the nation, blamed everything from poor weather which closed schools, cutting down on school lunches, to a 22 percent jump in the price of raw milk.

For the three months that ended March 31, Dean reported a loss of $9 million, compared with profit of $493 million a year ago. The loss per share was 9 cents compared with a $5.30 gain a year ago.

Analysts had been predicting a weaker quarter, but were expecting profit of 1 cent a share.

A federal jury in Dallas this week awarded a former employee of a Dean Foods division more than $212,000 in damages after determining she was fired because she was about to take maternity leave.

But a spokeswoman for Dallas-based Dean said the company is not responsible for the payment because the division, called Morningstar Foods, was sold earlier this year to Saputo Inc., a Canadian dairy company.

Tricia Ratra, of Plano, said she was fired in 2011, two days after submitting paperwork at Morningstar Foods, seeking a medical leave before delivering her first child. She was fired for allegedly improperly using her manager’s digital signature on her time cards, according to the complaint.

A jury of five women and two men sided with Ratra, according to a statement from the Kendall Law Group, which represented her.

“This case transferred to Saputo with the sale so Dean Foods is not involved,” a spokeswoman said. Officials with Saputo could not be reached for comment.

Dean Foods Co. on Friday filed regulatory papers to sell its remaining stake in a former division, now called The WhiteWave Foods Company.

Dean, the nation’s largest dairy processor, began spinning of portions of WhiteWave with an IPO last October.

Friday’s registration statement, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, is for a secondary offering of 29.9 million shares of WhiteWave’s Class A common stock. That’s 19.9 percent of the stock.

Dean expects the transaction, technically a debt-for-equity exchange, to be tax free.

Dean Foods Tuesday announced modifications to the color of executive parachutes.

The nation’s largest dairy processor, which is shedding two of its largest business segments, said in a regulatory filing that the company’s new “change in control” agreement eliminates an officer’s right to termination pay if the officer voluntarily leaves during the 30 days after the first anniversary of a change in control.

The revised agreement also does not include excise tax gross ups, which the board’s compensation committee opted to eliminate in August 2011 for future change in control agreements.

In the event of a change in control and qualifying termination, Dean has agreed to:

– pay the officer a lump sum equal to three times his or her base annual salary plus three times his or her target bonus for the year in which the termination occurs, plus a prorated bonus for part of the year prior to termination;

– pay the unvested balance of the officer’s 401(k) account, plus three times the most recent annual company match;

– continue the officer’s insurance benefits for two years; and

– provide outplacement services.

Dean Foods is spinning off its WhiteWave unit and earlier this year sold its Morningstar division.

Shares of Dallas-based Dean Foods (NYSE: DF) were up slightly Wednesday as the nation’s largest dairy producer picked up two stock upgrades.

Dean was boosted to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse, according to several financial news sites. Its price objective also increased by $3 to $21.

It was the second upgrade of the week for Dean, and it’s only Wednesday.
Earlier KeyBanc upgraded its rating to buy from hold, and also set a $21 price target.

Analysts have been watching for signs of strength at Dean, which spun off its fast growing WhiteWave division and sold off its Morningstar division, which makes coffee creamers, cottage cheese and other dairy products.

What’s left at Dean – milk – is less sexy than the other units but also counts as a household staple. Families scratch many things off the grocery list before cutting back on milk.

Dean Foods Co. (NYSE: DF) said Thursday that Robert Tennant Wiseman, a former executive with Britain’s largest fresh milk processor, was elected to the Dean board last week.

Wiseman joined the family business in 1975 and through the 1970s helped grow Robert Wiseman Dairies from a local dairy company to Britain’s largest milk processor, according to Dean.

Robert Wiseman Dairies recently was sold to the Muller Group in 2012. Wiseman currently serves as a non-executive director of Robert Wiseman Dairies Limited.

For serving on the Dean board he will be entitled to an annual retainer of $220,000. That includes a $100,000 cash retainer, payable quarterly and $120,000 in equity awards, consisting of restricted stock units.